Published: 01 October 2018
Author: Stringer Clark Injury Law team

Help at hand for those needing legal assistance

It’s pretty well known that in most compensation claims, particularly TAC and WorkCover claims, that you can get legal help on a “no win, no fee” basis. That means that even if you don’t have the money to pay for lawyers, you can get legal help with your case.

This works because at the end of the case there is generally a payment made to the lawyer for the legal work they have done by both WorkCover/TAC and the successful claimant.

But what happens if your legal problem isn’t a compensation claim? In some cases, Victoria Legal Aid will cover the costs of your legal services if you meet certain case and financial requirements. The most common examples being criminal cases and family law disputes. For more information, contact Victoria Legal Aid.

Sometimes though, you can’t get Legal Aid or a “no win, no fee” service. So, what are your options then? Justice Connect is a not-for-profit organisation that has recently released a new online tool designed to help you get legal advice. In some cases, Justice Connect will be able to provide help to you directly through their staff of lawyers and volunteers and in other cases, they will give you the information you need to get help from other organisations or help yourself.

If you have tried to get a lawyer but have been told that financially the case is not worth pursuing, don’t qualify for legal aid but can’t afford legal advice or have a matter not covered by Legal Aid, you should consider using Justice Connect’s service. The criteria to get assistance prioritises helping where there is a public interest or where a person is especially vulnerable. This can mean where there is some public importance to the case, for example, if it could apply to and affect a lot of people, or if the person is elderly or a minor, they may be considered “vulnerable”.

In certain circumstances, you can get help directly from Justice Connect for discrimination in school, some employment law cases, guardianship and administration matters, contracts matters, workplace sexual harassment, Commonwealth entitlements and access to hormone treatment therapy.

Areas not covered include compensation claims and small business disputes.

For legal issues arising out of homelessness, complaints about a lawyer and visas, migration and asylum seeker issues Justice Connect will give you information on other services that may be able to assist you.

The service is free to use and easy to understand. Also, until you apply for assistance from Justice Connect, the information you enter is anonymous.